


Roses

by CinderAsh



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Minor cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22782916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinderAsh/pseuds/CinderAsh
Summary: Roman and Deceit like each other and are hopeless pining gays about it, Remus and Patton are useless but supportive wingmen, and Logan and Virgil are manipulating everyone but not in a bad way.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Logan and Virgil are tired best friends, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Remus is surprisingly supportive and Patton is along for the ride, Roman and Deceit are disaster gays TM
Comments: 8
Kudos: 73





	Roses

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with Sanders Sides! And I have diverged from Analogical content for a total of one (1) time, where I wrote a very fluffy fic about Deceit and Roman and decided to post it. Minor cursing, because Remus, and references to sexual content, because Remus, although nothing actually happens. Bolded text indicates when Deceit is lying, just to avoid any confusion. Enjoy!

It was Remus who figured it out first, strangely enough. But then again, he  _ was _ half of Creativity, albeit the more chaotic part, and both he and Roman had always had a sense for romance. 

So it was Remus who figured it out first. While in the process of stealing Roman’s shoes, he noticed a vase brimming with roses on his desk. In itself, this was not unusual: Roman liked his flowers, and Remus personally believed that there were enough plants in his room to fill a small forest. But the flowers were a pale, soft yellow, and as far as he knew, Roman tended to stick to red roses, or pink. 

Remus blinked. “Well, that’s odd,” he said out loud, dropping the shoes he was stealing onto the bed. “What’ve you got these for, Ro?”

So he did a bit of snooping, eventually settling down at Roman’s desk to read a leatherbound notebook. Perched on the legs of the chair, the top of the backrest balancing precariously on the fluffy rug, Remus munched on Roman’s deodorant and flipped through the pages. 

It turned out to be a diary. 

After finishing his reading, and the deodorant, Remus threw it across the room, spinning on his precarious perch. “Ew,” he rolled his eyes. “He writes over and over and over about his huge crush on Dee, and doesn’t once mention any sexy stuff? Blargh.”

“Hey,” he realized after a second, “doesn’t Dee like Roman?”

A grin spread across his face. 

From Roman’s room, Remus took three things.

  * His left shoe
  * A bottle of conditioner
  * A rainbow friendship bracelet with small, colorful plastic beads.



Oh, and a newfound desire to set up Dee and his brother. But that one wasn’t edible.

  
  
  


Logan learned next, when Roman burst into the living room with Deceit’s hat in his hands, running for his life. Virgil glanced over from where he was perched on the fridge, scrolling through his phone, and shrugged at Logan, in a “Well, what can you do?” gesture. 

The Logical side, who was baking cupcakes (in the hopes of teaching Thomas how to do the same) sighed, returning to the batter he was mixing. He did notice, however, when Dee appeared in the room, instantly making his way for Roman.

“I  **didn’t** tell you not to touch my shit, right?” he snapped, brushing back his brown curls with his hand. “Give it back, Roman!”

“But I like your hair,” Roman protested, a mischievous grin (one Logan would have more expected from Remus) playing around his lips. “It’s cute!”

Dee turned bright red as he scowled, attempting to grab the hat from Roman’s hands. The snake-like side was taller, yes, but Roman was quick, and escaped quite easily. “Roman!”

“You’re going to have to come and get it,” the creative side grinned, before tossing the hat, past Logan and towards the refrigerator. “Catch, small, dark and lonesome!”

Virgil fumbled to grab it, luckily managing not to fall off, and hissed at Roman. 

“Are you alright?” Logan asked him after Roman had dashed into his room, Deceit following close behind. Neither seemed to be aware (or to really care) that they’d left the bowler hat behind. 

“I’m fine,” he nodded, though he was staring at Roman’s door, perplexed. “What just happened?”

“I have no idea,” Logan sighed, returning to the mixture. Only a little more, and then he would pour it into a cupcake tin and begin making the icing. 

But he did have an idea, kind of. It had almost seemed like Roman and Deceit were flirting with each other, in the ways that much of the media Thomas indulged in portrayed romance. 

Well, it did make sense, he mused as he meticulously poured the batter. They  _ had _ been spending more time together lately, although (Logan winced as Roman’s door was flung open again, Deceit now the one sprinting as he carried Roman’s sword in his hands) they almost seemed oblivious to their own feelings. 

He slid the cupcakes into the oven, setting a timer on his phone, and glanced over to where Roman was simultaneously raging at Dee and laughing as he ran down the hall after him, a faint blush visible on his cheeks. Not completely oblivious, then, just apparently unaware of the reciprocation of their feelings.

Logan glanced at Virgil, who was watching the two sides with a sort of amused befuddlement. Should he tell him of his newfound hypothesis? 

No, he decided. It was Roman and Deceit’s business, firstly, and besides, Virgil was intelligent. He would figure it out quickly, if he hadn’t done so already. 

  
  
  


In the anxious side’s defense, he had  _ suspected  _ that there was something going on between Deceit and Roman for a long time. But Virgil was well known for  **paranoia** jumping to conclusions, and was often wrong. So he’d stayed silent, brushed his suspicions off to the side, and, although he kept an eye on the two sides, he waited until he had enough evidence to be certain of anything. 

Staring at the list he’d made, which now filled an entire notebook and was making its way through a second, Virgil wondered if he had enough evidence yet. Perhaps he ought to wait until he’d filled the second. Or a third. Or a fourth. Or a fifth--

No. He was spiraling. In, one, two, three, four. Hold, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Out, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. 

_ Breathe, Virge, _ he told himself. The stress of this was getting to him, apparently, and that incident in the kitchen a few days ago hadn’t helped things. It certainly had  _ seemed _ like they were flirting (and besides, they’d been blushing far too much) but what if he was taking things too far? Maybe they were just very, very good friends. 

Maybe he should ask Logan? The logical side was always good at this kind of thing, and usually helped to ease his anxiety, as logic often did for the mental condition. But what if by doing so, he betrayed Roman and Dee’s secret? Did they even have a secret? What if Logan thought he was being an idiot?

He groaned, grabbing the notebooks.  _ If things kept going on like this, it’ll start to affect Thomas _ , he told himself, as he shut his eyes and appeared outside the door to Logan’s room, knocking on the door. 

“Come in,” he heard, and opened it, hood up as he stepped inside. 

Logan turned in his desk chair, concern evident in his eyes. “Virgil? Are you alright?”

“Hey, L,” he waved awkwardly, clutching the notebooks to his chest. “Can… Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Certainly,” Logan nodded, fully facing him now. “Is there an issue?”

“No, everything’s fine. I’ve just been noticing some weird stuff lately, and I can’t tell if I’m jumping to conclusions or if there’s actually something going on.” Virgil hesitated. “ _ Is  _ there something going on? Between Princey and Dee, I mean?” 

“What do you mean by ‘something’?” he asked, words oddly cautious. 

“I’ve been keeping an eye out for a couple weeks now,” he explained, handing him the notebooks. “And I haven’t been like,  _ stalking _ them or anything, I just did what you’re always saying to do -- gather data when you have the opportunity? I wrote it down to make sure I wasn’t imagining stuff, too.”

“You noticed all of this?” said Logic, incredulous, flipping through the pages. 

“I’m a bit more observant than the rest of you guys, generally, because I’m Thomas’ flight or fight instinct.” Virgil shrugged, biting his lip. “I just kept an eye on them, wrote down what I saw.”

“So, you believe Roman and Deceit are, or desire to be, in a romantic relationship with each other?” 

“They aren’t, yet,” he said immediately. “We would have noticed. They’re disaster gays, Logan, they’d ask for help to get together, and Patton can’t keep a secret to save his life.” 

“You would notice, maybe, but I’m not sure if it would be so apparent to the rest of us. Still,” Logan adjusted his glasses, looking up at Virgil, “I am glad you came to me. I have had my own suspicions about those two, and it is gratifying to see them confirmed. Although, in the future, if you have a notebook’s worth of substantial evidence, you can generally consider your hypothesis correct.” He stood, holding out the evidence in question. 

“Got it,” the anxious side nodded, taking the notebooks and making for the door. He slowed, turning back. “Hey, Logan?”

“Yes, Virgil?”

“What… what do we do? I mean, they’ve been pining after each other for weeks now, probably longer. Shouldn’t we do something?”

Logan sighed. “I’m not sure there’s much we can do. Until they decide to consult one of us, or Remus or Patton, I suppose we should let them figure things out on their own.”

“Yeah, that’s probably best,” he agreed, opening the door. “Bye, L.”

“Good night, Virgil,” Logan said, returning to his desk. 

_ But what if they don’t do anything? _ the emo side wondered as he hurried down the hall, headphones on and MCR blasting in his ears.  _ Those two are emotionally-stunted idiots! _

Later, in his room, Virgil would decide that Logan was right. It wasn’t his business, anyways, and he had other work to do, like ensuring Thomas didn’t make an utter fool out of himself on social media. 

  
  
  


Thus it was Patton who learned of the budding relationship last, ironically. In Morality’s defense, however, he  _ had  _ noticed that Deceit and Roman were growing close, and had simply brushed it off as the two sides learning to get along. He was glad, really, that Roman was escaping his habit of assuming villainy of the others, and that Dee was befriending the Creative side. It would be good for both of them. 

So he didn’t learn of the two sides’ true feelings until Deceit came up to him one night. Roman and Remus were spending time together in the Imagination and Virgil and Logan were playing chess in the living room, and with the others thus distracted he had quietly asked if he could talk to Patton for a minute. 

He agreed, of course, and followed Dee to the front steps of the house which manifested in the Mindscape. Virgil often warned them not to leave the steps, so both sides were careful to stay put. (“It’s dangerous, okay, Pat?” he’d snapped one night when pressed a bit too far. After calming down and apologizing, he’d continued “Think of it like this, okay? Thomas’ conscious mind manifests, at least for us, like a home to live in. But outside of the conscious mind, or the home, we don’t have as much power. You could fall into the subconscious, or accidentally affect him, or worse. Just… It’s in all of our best interests if we stay where it’s safe.”)

“What did you want to talk about, kiddo?” Patton asked after both had settled comfortably, noting how Deceit was nervously twisting his hat in his gloved hands. “Is everything okay?”

“What if I  **didn’t** want to ask someone out?” the snake-like side asked, looking anywhere but at Patton. “How would I do it?”

He squealed. Loudly. Dee looked slightly pained, but put up with Patton grabbing his shoulders and exclaiming “You like someone? Aw, that’s adorable! Who? Or, well, if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine too, this is just so cute!”

Deceit turned bright red, messing with a friendship bracelet on his wrist.

Patton was no idiot. He wasn’t the most book-smart of individuals, admittedly, but he was remarkably perceptive when it came to emotions, and surprisingly skilled at logical deduction. But, being representative of Thomas’ Morality, he disliked making assumptions, and preferred to wait for actual information. (“After all,” he’d chirp, after having lost his fifth consecutive game of Clue because he’d waited too long to Accuse, “to assume makes an a-word out of u and me!”) 

Presented with enough evidence, however, the puzzle pieces instantly clicked for him. Roman had made friendship bracelets for everyone a few months ago for Christmas, because he enjoyed the craft, and Patton recognized the specific gold thread he’d used in each of the presents woven between the red and yellow strands. And hadn’t Dee and Roman been spending more time together lately? And hadn’t Virgil and Logan been giving each other weird looks whenever they saw them together all week? 

“You like  _ Roman _ ?” Patton realized, eyes brightening. “That’s simply  _ adder _ able!” 

Dee snickered at the pun, nodding. “Yeah, I  **don’t** like Roman. But I don’t know what to say to him, or how to bring it up, or if he even likes me back, so I thought I’d ask you.”

“Me?” asked Morality, touched. “Why, kiddo?”

“You control a lot of Thomas’ feelings, you’ve said so yourself. And I  **am** good at this relationship stuff, and you are, so it was the logical conclusion.” He rolled his eyes. “Listen to me, ‘logical conclusion’. Logan would be proud.”

“Well, I’d be happy to help!” he exclaimed, grinning. Checking his watch, he stood. “I’ll tell you what, though, it’s almost time for dinner. So let’s go inside and eat with everything else, and we can talk tomorrow? That’ll also give me some time to come up with ideas, of course.”

“Sure,” Dee nodded, smiling. “That  **wouldn’t** be great, Patton.”

“Of course!”

Later that night, the center of Thomas’ feelings woke up in the middle of the night to see Remus, hanging above his bed from the ceiling like a bat. He started to scream, but the chaotic half of Creativity clamped his hand over Patton’s mouth. “Heya, Patty-batty-chatty-cakes!” he chirped. 

He gently pulled the hand away from his mouth. “Remus,” he said, fumbling for his glasses, “bud, it’s really, really late. What’re you still doing up?”

“You’ll  _ never  _ guess what Ro-Ro told me four hours ago!” the other side grinned, turning so he was sitting cross-legged at the end of Patton’s bed. “He has a crush! On slimy-boi!”

“Deceit isn’t actually slimy, Remus, you know that,” Morality chided him automatically, before his eyes widened. “Wait, Dee likes Roman!” 

“I know!” giggled Remus. “It’s as perfect as a unicorn being turned into mashed potatoes for a princess’ birthday dinner!” 

Patton ignored that last comment for the sake of his tenuous sanity. “Well, we have to get them together, then!” he beamed, holding out his hand for Remus to high-five. “Let’s team up to make sure they finally get together!”

Remus licked his palm, before slapping it against Patton’s. “Yay, Team Get-Those-Gays-Laid!” he exclaimed. 

“...We’ll work on the name,” he decided. “Now, we’d better both go to bed, okay? Or else we might disrupt Thomas’ sleep schedule.”

Remus nodded, chirping “Bye, Pat-a-dat-a-ding-dong!” before grinning, and, like the Cheshire Cat, fading away. It took a solid minute for his teeth to finally vanish.

Still, Patton couldn’t sleep. He was just so excited!

  
  
  


It had been two weeks since Patton and Remus had formed their team, which, despite its constantly fluctuating name, appeared to be going strong. They had been coaching both Deceit and Roman, respectively, had made lists of their corresponding interests and dislikes, and had been working day and night (much to Logan’s annoyance). All in all, it was going well. 

“But they aren’t  _ doing anything, _ ” Virgil groaned, as he placed down a blue three. “I know they’re trying, but it would be great if Team Whatever-Their-Name-Is-Now had actually done something already!”

“Last I knew, they were titled Team ‘Sparkle Cat Boy and Stinky Trash Rat Make A Snake Kiss A Prince, Hopefully Before We Die Of Old Age’ by you, Virgil,” Logan replied, topping it with a blue reverse card. (Much to his chagrin. As there were only two of them, Logan had argued that they ought to remove the reverse cards entirely. Virgil had insisted that they keep them in.) “And remember, we decided to not get involved? If they wanted our help, they would have asked for it.”

“You’re right,” Anxiety nodded after a beat. “We shouldn’t do anything. If Pat and Re need help, they’ll ask. Same goes for Roman and Dee.”

“Definitely.”

“Absolutely.”

“Undoubtedly.”

“It’s the logical course of action.” 

“As I  _ am  _ Logic, it would be foolish not to stay as we are.”

“Yeah. They can handle it on their own.”

Logan hesitated. “But, knowing the four of them, will they be able to handle it  _ effectively _ ?”

“...No,” Virgil sighed, adding a plus four card. “Uh, red. Take four. Well, what can we do about it?” 

“They won’t want us involved, of course. None of them know that we have any idea of what’s going on,” he mused, taking his cards. “My turn is skipped, so go ahead. Perhaps we should simply push them in the right direction. Do you know what they’re planning so far?”

“Pat and Remus have decided that they’re going to trick them into going on a date in the Imagination. They’re going to have Remus get those two oblivious lovebirds to enter Roman’s room while Patton finishes “making a place for them to confess their undying love”, direct quote from Pat.” Virgil placed a red six. “Uno.” 

“But Patton is not skilled at manipulating the Imagination,” Logan protested, frowning, as he put down a blue six in turn. “How do they expect him to do it?”

“Wait, he isn't?” the anxious side said, startled. “I thought he’d be the most likely to be able to control it out of any of the rest of us -- it’s just feelings and dreams, right?”

“Not entirely. Yes, feelings and dreams and happiness and all that is needed, but also a knowledge of structure, of depth, of space, and that’s just the  _ basics _ . Roman has often mentioned his creations are best when he can root them in science, or concepts he knows a lot about. It makes Patton and I both quite inept at its manipulation.” He frowned. “But of course they cannot have Remus do it…”

“Then what do we do?” asked Virgil, the singular card in his hand seemingly forgotten. 

There was silence for a moment, before Logan’s eyes brightened. “Aren’t you always imagining those scenarios of things going wrong? To better protect Thomas?”

“Well, yeah,” he nodded hesitantly, “but that’s also kind of counterproductive for a date, Logan.” 

“But to go wrong, it has to begin from an ideal point, one where things were right!” grinned Logic. “What if that was what we did? We pretend to spot Patton entering Roman’s room, and offer him our services when he cannot create what he wishes. You imagine it, and I relieve your anxiety before anything malicious can occur, thus fixing the problem!”

“What about Remus?” challenged Virgil, though his eyes had brightened with hope. “Do we really want him being the one to get Deceit and Roman, come up with a valid excuse for them to spend time together in the Imagination, and then trust him not to do something vulgar or disgusting?”

“Perhaps we drop hints for the next few days that preparing something ahead of time is better than doing it at the spur of the moment,” Logan mused. “Hopefully, it will influence Thomas enough that Patton is affected, and decides to create the environment in the Imagination ahead of time, making him the one to bring them there.”

“This plan still has major flaws,” Virgil grumbled, but sighed, eyes filling with a sort of brazen determination rarely seen in the embodiment of anxiety. “But let’s do it.”

“Agreed,” he smiled. 

“Oh, by the way, I win,” he added, dropping his Wild card onto the pile. “I always save one, just in case. You know that, Logan, come on.” 

“I do now,” Logic nodded, but he couldn’t stop a smile from creeping onto his face. “Good game, Virgil.”

“Thanks,” he grinned, before his face fell. “Oh no, do we need one of those stupid team names now?”

“I think not,” decided Logan, rolling his eyes. “Besides, we both know they make you too conspicuous. We figured out that Patton and Remus had teamed up because they kept whispering about their team name and making ‘team puns’.” 

“True,” laughed Virgil. “Alright, Team Without-A-Team-Name, let’s manipulate our friends to set up our other idiotic gay friends.”

“Don’t phrase it like that,” he said automatically, before looking up, appalled. “And we said no name!”

Virgil was still laughing as he sunk out. 

  
  
  


It wasn’t much of a surprise that their plan worked perfectly. Remus was employed to distract Deceit and Roman by leading them on a wild goose chase (literally) through his half of the Imagination after lunch, while Patton transformed the part of the realm that usually appeared as Roman’s room, exactly two hours before he would have to go find the lying and creative sides. 

  
  
  


Patton was panicking. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t make it work right! All of his ideas, as beautiful and dreamy as they were, quickly became unsubstantial and appeared like blobs of paint. But he couldn’t ask Remus for help, or else Dee and Roman would end up having their date in a swamp, chased by a man-eating kraken! 

“Patton?” came a familiar voice from the door, and he turned to see Logan standing there, Virgil peering around his shoulder. “Is everything alright? We noticed you entering Roman’s room. I thought he was out with Deceit and the Duke?” 

“Oh, hey kiddos!” Patton exclaimed, trying for a cheerful smile but (judging from the sympathetic looks on both of their faces) not entirely succeeding. “I was hoping to make a surprise for Dee and Ro, but… As you can see, it isn’t going very well.” He stared sadly at what he had hoped would be a rose bush (“Yellow and red!” Remus had told him, oddly insistent) that instead looked like a green background to a trypophobic nightmare. 

“Well, that does make sense. Neither you nor I are particularly good at such things, Patton; we don’t have enough balance between feelings and knowledge to produce them.” Logan hesitated, glancing at Virgil, who was crouching and staring at Patton’s attempt at a cat. “Perhaps Virgil could aid you, if he is so willing.”

“What?” asked the side in question, that had gathered the wispy brown mist into his arms and was stroking it gently, causing a faint sound (almost like a purr, but not quite) to ripple through the Imagination. 

Logan cleared his throat, seemingly flustered, as Patton internally squealed because it was just too  _ cute _ . “I said, ‘Perhaps Virgil could aid you, if he is so willing.’”

His eyes widened, cheeks reddening, as he cautiously put down the cat. “Uh sure. Yeah. Um…  _ Pat _ ernal figure, if you tell me what to do, I can probably do it, as long as Logan makes sure I don’t ruin it.” 

Logan rolled his eyes as Patton giggled. “Don’t talk bad about yourself, kiddo,” he warned, momentarily frowning, before he brightened again. “But anyways, that would be really helpful!”

“Okay. Whenever you’re ready,” Virgil said, still holding the misty cat, although its fur had changed to a soft grey. 

“Alright, so I was thinking a sort of forest at dusk, maybe? And a path through it, all lit up with pretty lanterns with little candles inside, coming from the door to a clearing.” He paused, watching the trees grow around him, the sun begin to set, the cast-iron lanterns growing and hanging themselves from branches, candles inside flickering merrily. “Oh! And maybe faeries, like the ones from Legend of Zelda, little spots of light? Those would be pretty everywhere. Plenty of animals, too, but no creepy-crawlies, and a couple harmless snakes.”

At this point, Logan lay a hand on Virgil’s arm, the snakes (that had begun to grow long fangs dripping with venom) writhing in the grass. “Breathe, Virgil. You can do this.”

The anxious side nodded, and the animals in question shrunk, till they were small, harmless corn snakes that quickly slithered away.

“Lots of flowers and plants everywhere,” Patton continued with a smile, “and especially rose bushes, with red and yellow roses. And then in the clearing…

“Make it flat, so there are no bumps, but plenty of grass! And a big checkered picnic blanket off to one side, right underneath a cherry tree, a flowering one, where the petals don’t fall too often -- just occasionally? An apple tree here or there, maybe some pears. And I brought some food for them.” He pulled a big picnic basket out from behind him, placing it gently in the center of the blanket.

“It looks ideal. I’m sure Deceit and Roman will confess in no time,” Logan nodded, pleased.

“I certainly hope so!” Patton chirped, before his eyes widened. “Hey, how’d you know that?”

“...Context clues,” Logan said, adjusting his glasses, as Virgil snorted. The cat in his lap, which was now black with big yellow eyes, and far more defined, purred loudly. 

“It looks great, Pat,” Virgil said, standing, his new friend still held firmly in his grasp. Patton sneezed, and he tossed him his allergy medication without even thinking about it, as he was wont to do. (It had been Anxiety, strangely, that had taken the motherly role among the sides. Remus found it hilarious.) “Good luck.”

“Thank you so much, Virgil!” he exclaimed, catching the smaller side into a bear hug. “I never would have been able to do it without you!”

“Y-You’re welcome,” he stuttered, face pink. “Take your meds, you’re already sneezing. C’mon Logan let’s go--”

Hurriedly, the anxious side pulled them out of the Imagination, sinking out to the living room. 

“It really did look good, Virgil,” Logan remarked after a beat, noting how the cat had escaped the Imagination with them, and was now stretching, kneading its paws into the rug. “You did an excellent job.”

“Now we just have to see if it works,” he muttered, pulling a board out from under the television. “Monopoly?”

  
  
  


“Ro! Dee!”

The two sides turned, spotting Patton running towards them. “Patton?” Roman asked, lowering the balloon sword Remus had given him at the start of their adventure.

“Hey, kiddo! Um… there have been some weird noises coming from your room, and I was starting to get a little worried,” the feelings-based side explained, coming to a stop, panting. “Do you have any idea what’s happening?” 

“I’m afraid I don’t,” Roman frowned, summoning his actual sword. “I had best go investigate!”

“I had better  **not** come with you,” Dee told him, adjusting his hat. “If something is actually wrong, I can provide backup.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea!” Patton nodded furiously. 

“Shouldn’t we say goodbye to Remus?” asked Roman as Patton ushered the two sides out of the darker half of the Imagination and into the hallway. 

“Nope!” called the side in question, popping up out of the dirt. “Go get laid, Ro!”

...It was probably good, all things considered, that Patton had already closed the door by then. 

  
  
  


“I don’t hear anything odd,” Roman said, ear pressed to the door. “Do you, Dee?”

“I  **do** ,” he shook his head. 

“Patton, are you sure you heard--” he straightened, looking around. “Patton?”

“Well, that’s not ominous at all,” Dee remarked, sarcasm dripping through his voice. “We’d better go in.”

“Shouldn’t we find Patton first?” Thomas’ Creativity asked, perturbed. 

“He probably got distracted, you  **don’t** know him,” sighed Deceit. “And he  **didn’t** ask us to check on what was going on.”

“True,” nodded Roman, and with that, opened the door. 

Time in Roman’s realm hadn’t changed since Virgil had altered it, so it was into that magical moment just between sunset and night that the two sides walked. They looked around, eyes wide, Roman admiring the plants, Deceit cooing at every animal he could find. The path was like something out of a story. One of the tiny faeries landed Deceit’s finger, and Roman, looking over, half thought that the other side’s eyes were going to pop out of his head, with how stunned he looked. 

The clearing was beautiful too, and both were enraptured by their surroundings as they sat on the blanket. 

“It  **isn’t** so beautiful,” Deceit said softly after a long, peaceful silence, glancing over at Roman.

“It is,” he agreed, looking at him in turn. The meeting of their eyes seemed to fluster them both, as they simultaneously turned red and focused on the basket between them. 

It took awhile for the awkwardness to be over (the duration it took for them each to consume the sandwiches that Patton had packed, specifically) but finally Roman, lying on his back and observing the first stars of the night that had begun to peek through the trees, said “So, we should probably talk.”

“I suppose we should,” Dee nodded, turning to face him. At some point, his hat and gloves had been taken off, and there was a small corn snake, only a baby, really, nestled in his curls. 

“How did you have time to sneak in here and make this?” inquired Roman, after neither of them said a word. “I was with you the whole day!”

“Wait, I  **did** make this,” Dee told him, before scowling in concentration. “I  _ didn’t  _ make this, I mean. I thought you did!” 

“No, I haven’t been in the Imagination since a little before lunch, and then it was just my room,” he frowned. 

“Well, why would it turn into this while you weren’t there?” Dee asked, looking around. “I mean, it clearly  **isn’t** for the both of us -- could you be any more blatant with the roses?”

“I don’t know,” Roman admitted, but he sighed, then. “Or… I do. I just didn’t think it would get this out of hand.”

“What  **wouldn’t** get this out of hand?” It must be acknowledged that despite his best efforts, Deceit was having trouble mustering enough concentration to focus on speaking the truth. (Not while Roman was right next to him, weaving together flower crowns from the roses, the warm light from the lanterns making his face glow.)

“A few months ago, I realized that I… have feelings for you, Dee. In a not entirely platonic sense.” His face was as red as the flowers still in his hands, but Roman hurried on, “It appears that the Imagination has been affected by those feelings a great deal more than I suspected.”

“You  **don’t** like me?” the other side asked, Deceit’s voice small as he stared at him.

“I do,” confessed Creativity, sitting up, placing the two finished crowns beside him. “And I would never want to force you to reciprocate those feelings, but I thought… You ought to know. You probably would have figured it out yourself, after this, anyway.”

“You wouldn’t be forcing me to reciprocate those feelings,” Dee told him after a beat, nails digging into his palms because he  _ had  _ to concentrate, to be honest. “I… I  **don** \-- I like you too, Roman. Not platonically.”

“You do?” he asked, and he looked so shocked, so confused, that it almost broke Deceit’s heart. 

“I do,” he nodded, and he could feel a grin breaking out across his face. “And you  **don’t** \-- I mean, you do too.”

“Can I kiss you?” Roman asked, because of  _ course  _ he did, because he was always a perfect gentleman, even to Dee. 

It wasn’t fireworks or rainbows or flames of passion, not really. It was more like coming home, the sense of two halves of the same whole slotting into place, connecting for the first time. 

  
  
  


When they came out of the Imagination, each wearing flower crowns of red and yellow roses, holding hands tightly, Virgil and Logan grinned tiredly at each other. They had long ago finished Monopoly, and had moved on to sitting on the sofa, wrapped in blankets. Patton had fallen asleep beside them, head in Virgil’s lap, and Remus was snoring from under the couch. (Virgil had been kind enough to abandon his perch on top of the cushions for Patton, or else it would have been very uncomfortable for the both of them.)

“You arranged this, didn’t you,” deadpanned Dee, after taking one look at the smirk on Virgil’s face. 

“Patton and Remus are currently unaware that we -- how did you phrase it, Virgil? Oh, yes,  _ masterminded _ the entire thing. As far as they know, we were only minorly involved,” Logan told them quietly, moving over so the two sides could sit together beside him on the couch. “I would appreciate it if you did not inform them. Congratulations on finally acknowledging your feelings for each other.”

“Good job,” said the anxious side succinctly, clearly already half asleep and ready to pass out now that his work was finished. “Hey, Dee, guess what? I did the roses. I made  _ allllllll _ of the roses.” 

“You did the entirety of the creation, Virgil, and you did so wonderfully,” Logan informed him, patting him on the head awkwardly. “Now… rest, please.”

“Thank you,” Roman told them both quietly, his hand warm on Dee’s. They’d left his gloves and hat in the Imagination, but they could always fetch them later. Besides, Roman liked holding hands. “We’ll thank Patton and Remus in the morning, too, but… Thank you.”

“Of course,” Logic nodded, smiling at them. “I believe there are blankets on the chair that Patton insisted we leave out for you should you wish to sleep here on the couch with us tonight.”

“I think we  **won’t** ,” Dee told him, standing to grab said blankets. 

They fell asleep that night all curled up together, these six sides of Thomas Sanders. When they woke up the next morning and Patton cooed over the flower crowns and Remus made vulgar jokes at them, when Virgil grumbled at them good-naturedly and Logan, the only one ever truly awake in the mornings, made breakfast, they would thank them. The crowns would eventually go on shelves, first in their individual bedrooms and then, when they moved in together, on a singular shelf just above their bed. 

They would have their spats, as lovers do, and they would make up. They would have adventures, would create a garden all their own, would pet Virgil’s cat (which he titled Wisp) as they ate breakfast together, would eventually tell Thomas and his viewers. They would have a future together. 

But not yet. For now, they slept. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on my tumblr! 
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/awkwardthings6
> 
> (I don't know how to link on here, so my apologies for that. If any of you know, please tell me!)


End file.
